Microsoft and its famed console, Xbox 360

It was in 2006 when the Seventh Generation of gaming consoles emerged, with the release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PS3, and Nintendo’s Wii. This year marked the evolution of high definition gaming with high-end processors and hard disk drives that are usually found only in desktop computers.From the console that brought us Ninja Gaiden, the Halo series, Dead or Alive and many more, comes the successor of Microsoft’s Xbox, humbly named Xbox 360. It was actually in May of 2005 when the first few units of Xbox 360 were released, but a worldwide release only happened in 2006. If Sony focused on improving its gameplay, Microsoft focused on another aspect: namely, the console’s graphics, as noticeable in Xbox 360. Early screenshots of the product showed immense improvements in terms of graphics, attention to detail and environment rendering in comparison to its predecessor. The Xbox 360 also has a backward compatibility function which meant that games from the original Xbox can be played using the newer version. Another improvement from the original Xbox is the Xbox Live, a software which the former console also had but was further developed in Xbox 360. Users can now download games, compete with players all over the world, and watch movies via the Internet.Probably the most famous addition to the Xbox 360 console is the accessory called Kinect. It looks like a thin DVD player with a camera mounted on the middle and is just basically placed on top of the screen. With this connected to the Xbox 360, players can control what is happening on the screen with a flick of a wrist through motion sensing. This also opens up new gaming opportunities as there are a lot of games that had been specifically made to be used with Kinect. Now, doesn’t that make you feel like Tony Stark?Xbox 360 has recently hit an 80 million worldwide sales mark, making it the number one gaming console sold in the US alone. So if you want high definition gaming, an active online community, downloadable games, and best of all, motion sensing through the Kinect, then Xbox 360 is definitely the console for you.